Critical Conversations – Page 2 – cinéSPEAK

10 Aug Animation as Imagination: The Liberating Power of “Practical Abolition”

Posted at 14:56h in Abolition, Black Liberation, Civic Engagement, Conversations and Collaborations, Critical Conversations, Mass Incarceration by Kristal Sotomayor 0 Comments

4 Likes

Practical Abolition shifts the narrative around the benefits of policing. The animated film imagines what Philadelphia could look like if we invested in healing our communities instead of policing them....

Read More

27 Jul Is My Living in Vain?: The Intersection of Church and Community

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY KELSEY BROWN When Ufuoma Essi moved to Philadelphia in 2016 for a year-long study abroad program from London, she wasn’t making art or films. Now, Essi reflects on that time as helping her “explore filmmaking as a real possibility.” “Philadelphia has been super formative for me,”...

Read More

08 Jun An Interview with Little Richard: I Am Everything Director Lisa Cortés

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY RASHEED ZAIRE AJAMU Little Richard was an exceptional musician who possessed a unique voice and personality. Despite facing internal obstacles due to his identity as a Black, queer, and religious individual, his impact on music was enormous. The documentary feature Little Richard: I Am Everything chronicles...

Read More

23 May The Drum Also Waltzes: An Interview with Directors Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY JOHN MORRISON To understand the nature of jazz as an expression of both the cultural wealth and political aspirations of Black America, one need not look further than the life and career of the drummer Max Roach. A relentless experimenter, in his early days, Roach...

Read More

18 May A Visual Language: Discussing Film and Fashion with Walé Oyéjidé

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY KRISTAL SOTOMAYOR Philadelphia-based artist Walé Oyéjidé is the definition of a multi-hyphenate–he is a talented fashion designer, filmmaker, speaker, photographer, musician, and lawyer. Oyéjidé utilizes his art to celebrate marginalized communities, with a focus on stories of African migration. Along with designer Sam Hubler, he...

Read More

11 Apr Being The Trans Big Brother: An Interview With Mutt Director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY HANSEN BURSIC Over the course of just 24 hours, Feña, the lead character in Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s award-winning film Mutt, is thrown into an emotional rollercoaster marked by family drama, the sudden appearance of an ex, and a slew of bad luck. What emerges once the...

Read More

25 Oct Magic, Memory, and Making Time For Elders: Filmmaker Rea Tajiri on Wisdom Gone Wild

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY HANSEN BURSIC When Philly-based filmmaker Rea Tajiri set out to make a film about her mother who was diagnosed with dementia, she couldn’t have imagined the decade-long journey she would be undertaking, or how it would impact the way she viewed aging. In fact, she...

Read More

15 Sep Ayoka’s Rainbow: Her Colorful Tale of Womanhood 30 Years Later

Posted at 10:05h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY GABE CASTRO A matriarchal tale of womanhood, art, and love, Alma’s Rainbow showcases Black joy and sisterhood through laughter and drama. The story is told through the eyes of three remarkable women: the straight-laced and independent mother; the artistic, french-speaking, free-spirited aunt; and lastly, the...

Read More

01 Mar Maneuvering Home: An Interview with the Director and Producer of Midwives

Posted at 17:41h in Critical Conversations, Film Festival by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY AARON HUNT Every day before filming, director Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing and her cinematographer Thae Zar Chi Kang crossed a military checkpoint into a village in Rakhine State. Hlaing grew up here; her auntie even introduced her to the eponymous midwives, Hla and Nyo-Nyo. But...

Read More

02 Dec How the Film Work of Punk Legend Brontez Purnell Evokes and Transcends the Legendary Marlon Riggs

Posted at 12:00h in Critical Conversations by Sophia Abraham-Raveson 0 Comments

0 Likes

BY ALEX SMITH “What’d I do today? Oh my god, I got some new jeans.” This triumphant opening line is the start to Brontez Purnell’s 100 Boyfriends Mixtape, the first moment we see the film’s lone subject: a gay Black man named DeShawn, played by Purnell...

Read More

1
2
3